In a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, is where Robert “Rob” Elder’s story begins. With car dealerships being where his family made a name for itself, in the professional world, the location is fitting. He, his brother Tony and sister Stephanie run the Elder Automotive empire today. Elder as president and chief executive officer of the company that is expected to have revenue of $200 million in 2024.
But really, to tell the story of Rob Elder, one needs to go back a generation, to that of his mother, Irma Elder.
Irma, who passed away in 2014, is an automotive industry legend and to those who knew her, she was a legend with, or without, the industry that provided the road to her family’s wealth. Strong, witty, generous and charitable, the name she made for herself in the car business, and as a woman, was equally admirable. She was on the Federal Reserve Board Chicago Branch, inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame and named by Automotive News as a top 100 women in business.
A favorite story shared by Elder involves her hilarious encounter, sitting next to a legendary musician at a formal dinner at the White House. While we can’t retell that story here, per Elder’s request, be sure to ask him about it if you see him. It’s a tender moment of an unassuming mom, retold by a son who admired and loved her so.
It might be a challenging conversation though. Elder isn’t one to show emotions, freely, or seemingly, sweat the small stuff. His attitude about things that happened to him is really quite delightful, a word no one would likely expect us to use to describe him. He appreciates what he has and is generous to those who have less. He is sharp, and direct, but will give you his full attention when he promises it. He is a busy guy and doesn’t want to flit around a topic. “I don’t have time to relax,” he will say.
If it’s taking too long, it’s probably time to move on to something else in Elder’s world. Reading this, he will want to prompt us to get on with it already so, …
A PIONEER TAKES THE WHEEL
How did an immigrant from Mexico come to be the first woman to own a Ford dealership, in the United States, in the 1980s?
Irma’s story begins in Xicotencatl, Mexico. After immigrating to Miami, where she was searching for a better life and more opportunity, she encountered both, in one efficient move.
She met a man, fell in love and relocated to Detroit where new husband, Jim, owned a Ford dealership, in Troy. In 1983, Jim passed away and Irma, without much hesitation, stepped in to take over the business, earning that legendary status and becoming the first woman in America to own a Ford dealership. She later turned the renamed Elder Automotive Group into one of the largest women-owned businesses in the U.S.
“[My dad] started out working for Ford Motor company. They would send my dad in to fix a store and then he would move on to the next broken store,” says Elder. “He found a store in Detroit he really liked and asked if he could buy it, in 1967.”
Very efficient in his life, and with recollections of it, Elder shares the story of how his father and mother met.
“[Mom] met my dad. They fell in love and got married, within six months. She moved to Michigan…we had a normal childhood,” he says, getting to the point and not elaborating further.
Born in 1970, in Royal, Michigan, Elder admits he doesn’t remember a lot about his father. He was 12 years old when his dad died, but recalls dad was often gone, running the business; he simply doesn’t recall many memories of him.
Elder’s dad had been married before and had children from that marriage, but Elder was the baby of all his siblings.
After his father’s passing, as previously mentioned, Elder’s mom took over the business.
“Everyone said, there’s no way you can give a woman a Ford dealership. And Ford said, ‘Well, we think we’re going to give it to her,” Elder says. He recalls memories of coming home from school with mom holding meetings with executives from Ford.
“I would get home from wrestling practice and there would be financial statements laid out on the kitchen table and executives teaching my mom the business,” he says.
It wasn’t Irma’s first brush with the auto industry. She had worked as a secretary for Anthony Abraham, in Miami, another legend in the auto industry, known for having the largest Chevrolet dealership in Florida, at one time.
Even still, actually running a dealership was a whole new ballgame, and one she took without hesitation and found enormous success in.
“1983 was a really bad recession, in the car world, especially in Detroit. She didn’t really have a choice. We were close to living on food stamps, at the time. We had nothing,” Elder says.
With the stakes high and children to still provide for, even if some were grown, Irma stepped in and made it happen.
“You just do it. You just learn. One day you have one thing happening and the next day God does something, and you have a whole different life in front of you,” Elder says. “That is what life is. Roll with the punches and enjoy it.”
FLORIDA STATE OF MIND
Elder describes himself as a “horrible student.” He attended the Brother Rice High School, in Birmingham, a suburb of Detroit. He admits he might have held a record at his school for the most detentions. “I got in trouble for everything,” he says laughing.
Elder and his siblings began working by the time they were teenagers. “We knew we were, kind of, meant for this business. We worked in every department,” he says.
After high school, Elder traveled down to the Sunshine State to attend Florida State University, where he majored in marketing and economics.
“My mother had a rule, you’re not allowed to work for the family business for three years after you get out of college,” Elder says. “No one’s going to tell the owner’s son that he’s stealing from the dealer. He is the dealer. But if you go to work for somebody else, someone’s going to tell you that stuff.”
That experience proved to be valuable to him, and his siblings, when they came of age to run businesses of their own.
“When I became the owner of my own business, I knew what to look for, what people were going to do. I would never have been able to do that if I didn’t go to work for somebody else first,” Elder says.
Elder lived in Miami for a few years after college, working at a car dealership. Meanwhile, back in Michigan, Irma was expanding her fleet of dealerships.
“We seemed to get broken stores, and we would fix them,” he says. The formula worked.
Wash, rinse, repeat. Elder Automotive, both the matriarch and her children, were slowly creating the Elder Automotive Group. It came to be with 13 dealerships and revenue in the “a lot” category, Elder says, coyly.
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
By the time Elder was midway through his twenties, Elder Automotive had amassed a sizable number of stores, it was 1993 or 1994.
“At that point, our stores were doing record numbers. Jaguar was breaking world records and Saab started to do the same,” Elder says. “And the stores would say, I don’t think this 26-year-old kid can run this, let alone with a woman behind him.”
But the Elder Auto business kept racking up impressive numbers that couldn’t be ignored. At the time, Ford had purchased Jaguar, so Ford executives were able to drive Jaguar models. “It was crazy how many Jaguars we were selling,” Elder recalls.
Saab, eventually, gave Irma the ability to run one of their stores, but only on a one-year trial basis. Something they’d never done, nor required, before. But Irma was a woman, and they were still questioning a woman owning a Saab store.
These days, women are just as likely to own any car dealership they want. Hard to imagine that was a mere 40-“ish” years ago.
“Sisters, mothers and daughters are now coming up through the business and doing better than men,” Elder says, as serious as ever.
Elder admits he had some growing pains coming into his own leadership role in the business. “I was aggressive and passionate,” he says, as if he’s not now. “I’d be a little loud. I’ll never forget, there was this guy from Jaguar once, and we had a combative relationship, to say the least. I was at the New York Auto Show, and I wanted to meet the new vice president of Lamborghini. I turned around and it was him. I told him, ‘I need a Lamborghini [store]. He told me, ‘You’ll never get a Lamborghini [store].’ And went on to say, ‘Let me tell you one thing. Be very careful which toes you step on. They might be attached to the ass you need to kiss in the future.’” And they were.
He shrugs retelling this story. “You learn,” he adds. “Being patient is one of the most important things [you learn.] You want it all, right now. It just doesn’t work out like that. Be patient and it will come.”
After Irma was initially snubbed for an additional Jaguar dealership, in Detroit, she was, later offered the opportunity to pick a location she would like to add to her portfolio.
“They gave her five locations to choose from, all nice but not where we wanted to be. The last one was in Los Angeles, which was nice, but far from Detroit,” Elder says. “The next day they called us and said, how about Tampa?”
That scored a yes from mom, and Elder, her youngest son, happily established Jaguar of Tampa.
DEAR TAMPA
“Tampa’s the greatest scene in the world,” Elder says. “I will never live anywhere else. I will always have a home in Tampa. There’s so much to do here, there’s so little to do here. That’s the great thing about Tampa Bay.”
There’s no doubt he means it. Lying isn’t something Elder seems to have time for. There might be a snarky joke about car salesmen here, but we will pass on that. It’s too predictable.
The Elder Automotive Group sold most of their dealerships, in 2021, including all of its Ford stores, to Lithia & Driveway. Today, it retains ownership of four dealerships including Jaguar of Tampa and Lakeland, Land Rover in Lakeland, a Land Rover store, in Macomb, Michigan, and Hyundai Genesis, in Macomb.
“I kept saying no but after about the seventh offer, our accountant said, ‘You’d be a [expletive] idiot not to sell, at this point,’” Elder says it’s the first time he ever heard him curse.
With the remaining stores, the Elder family, with Rob’s brother and sister, and nieces and nephews, still stay involved in the business, meet to make major decisions, with the elder, Elder generation serving as a board of directors.
Until her passing, at 84 years old, Irma Elder remained active in the business. “It was her life,” Elder says, fondly.
By selling some of the Elder Automotive footprint, it freed up Elder to diversify his other lines of business. He estimates he’s invested in about 15 local companies, at this point. This includes Tampa’s own Next Level Brands, Quiet Professionals and projects through Ally Capital Group.
He’s reluctant to share the depth and details citing, “I’m not the type of guy who walks in a place and announces he owns it,” he says.
Elder walks the line between confidence and humility well. He still remembers his mother taking him, and his siblings, to dinner when they “made it.”
“She ordered a bottle of Opus One and said, ‘This is how I know I made it,’” he says with a smile and a nostalgic gaze.
These days, he’s more content to be a divorced soccer dad and spend his free time fishing. He enjoys cooking and spending time with his kids.
“Being a soccer dad is awesome. We bring them to the field for practice and we see our buddies, tell jokes and laugh,” Elder says.
Next time you’re in Elder’s presence and you are intimidated, because he can be, remember he’s just a soccer dad trying to enjoy his time on earth, like everyone else.
“No matter what happens in life, no matter how rich you are, the grass is always greener somewhere else,” Elder says. “I’m just sitting back and taking it all in and enjoying life.”
He never got that Lamborghini store. “I stopped trying though, to be honest with you. They’re hard,” he says, laughing. Truth is, he never needed it anyway.
Whether he wants to show it or not, there’s a humble guy with a big heart under that tough guy exterior, suffice it to say, he got that from mom. And, while he tries, it’s hard for him to hide it. He’s a car guy, through and through, but when he thinks you’re not paying attention, you will see it. You just have to look closely.
“Never give up, never let anyone say you can’t do something. My mother used to ask me, ‘Are you American?’ I’d be like, yes. Then she’d say, ‘What’s the last four letters of American?’ I’d say, I can,’” Elder says. “Get busy living or get busy dying. You don’t have a choice. Just keep going.” ♦
PROUD MOMENT & PHILANTHROPY
Elder recalls his proudest moment being tied to an honor he received, thanks to his philanthropic contributions.
He was honored with the Salute to Dealers Award, from the Ford Motor Company, a coveted honor that is hard to achieve. His mother first won the award, about 20 years ago.
“That was a big deal for me, both of us winning the same, prestigious award,” Elder says.
Elder Ford Auto Group has a long history of supporting the United States military through organizations like the Green Beret Foundation and the Navy Seal Foundation.
Together, the Tampa Bay Sport’s Commission and Rob Elder, partnered to create Replay Tampa Bay. The program encourages members of the Tampa Bay community to assist local kids in need, by donating new or gently used sporting goods and athletic equipment to a designated drive location.
In addition, Elder sits on the board for the Bullard Family Foundation and supports Metropolitan Ministries.
